Waistband for garments.



T. R. GAINES.

WAISTBAND FOR GARMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27. 1916.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

INVENTOR llltlll ll as PATENT THOMAS E. GAINES, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNGR TO E. H. KING COMPANY, 01? PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

WAISTBAND FOB. GABMEN'IS.

Application filed January 2'7, 1916.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THoMAs R. GAINES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Waistbands for Garments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to waistbands for garments, such as skirts, underskirts, and the like, having means whereby the size of the waistband may be adjusted to the size of the waist of the wearer.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a skirt or the like with an external box-plait or panel of permanent width, the waistband having a series of eyelets which in cooperation with a suitable lace or laces may serve to adjust the size of the waistband without disturbing the predetermined width of the panel.

Another object is to provide an eyeleted waistband or the like with a cover, preferably of the same material as the garment, which may be releasably fastened so as to conceal the eyelets.

A still further object is to make a skirt or other garment with an intermediate eyeleted portion uninterrupted by a placket, and provided with a preferably external panel.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of the upper portion of a skirt equipped with my invention; Fig. 2, an elevation on an enlarged scale of the rear of the skirt shown on Fig. 1, the eyelet cover being open; Fig. 3, a plan of Fig. 1, on a slightly reduced scale with the eyelet cover 12 omitted; Fig. l, an enlarged view showing the opposite side of Fig. 2 with the eyelet cover removed; Fig. 5, a section on the line V-V, Fig. 4; and Fig. 6, a rear view showing one end of the cover concealing the eyelets and the other end raised to expose some of the eyelets.

On the drawing, 1 represents the body of a skirt and 2 the waistband thereof having one edge, in this instance, the upper one, stitched to the said body.

8 is a placket opening provided with suitable waistband fasteners 4C.

To make the skirt adjustable to different sized waists, the rear portion of the skirt is reversely folded to form a panel or external Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. is, rare.

Serial No. 74,528.

box-plait 5 in a manner presently to be explained. This panel has the edges 6 and preferably the vertical stitching 7 near the said edges and through the two outer members of the three members forming the lateral halves of the panel.

I provide the waistband with a series of eyelets 8 which are arranged in that portion of the skirt having the panel 5. The eyelets 8 each extend preferably through both the skirt material and the band of the inner members 9 and the middle members 10 of the panel, I prefer that they extend through the band only of the outer member 11 of the panel, the outer member 11 being provided with the COVer 12 which is stitched to the upper edge of the band and has its lower edge detachably secured to the lower edge of the band by suitable fasteners of any kind, marked 13.

Preferably some of the eyelets, marked 8, in the members'lO and 11 and near the edges 6 extend through both the members 10 and 11 as shown on Fig. 5, in order to make the folds at the edges 6 keep permanently a flat, neat appearance.

Each of the double folds comprising the lateral halves of the panel or box-plait 5 are prevented from unfolding and are kept closely together by the use of tapes or laces 1%, one lace for each double fold or half panel or plait. As the tapes are applied the same way to each double fold, I will describe how one tape is used.

The skirt is first adjusted to the size of the waist of the person who is to wear the same by moving the opposing edges 15 t0 ward or away from each other until the desired size is obtained, which may be visually indicated by size numbers associated with the eyelets at each side of the center of the panel as shown on Fig. 1-, where the number 32 beneath the eyelets next to the edges 15 indicates that the skirt is adjusted for a 32-inch waist. The eyelets in all the members of the folds of the panel are arranged in registry as shown on Fig. 5. One end of a lace 14 is connected to the skirt in any manner, as by the knot 16. The lace lt may be passed from the inside of the band through the eyelets nearest the edge 6 with the knot, which is larger than the holes in the eyelets, stopped against the eyelet in the member 9. The lace is then passed from the outside of the skirt through the second group of registering eyelets and so on until the group of eyelets nearest the edge 15 is reached, when the tape is passed back through the second group of eyelets from the edge'15 and then through the third and fourth, the end of the lace being allowed to drop down inside the skirt. Ordinarily it will not benecessary to use more than two to the body thereof, a longitudinal series of evenly-spaced eyelets in the rear portion of the Waistband, the said eyeleted portion being folded to form external plaits in the waistbands With the eyelets of the folds registering, and lacing means passed through the registering eyelets to secure the folds of theplaits together, some of the eyelets adjacent to the edges of the plaits extending through the outer and middle members of the three members constituting the plaits.

2. A garment having a waistband secured to the body thereof, a longitudinal series of evenly-spaced eyelets in the rear portion of the waistband, the said eyeleted portion being folded to form external plaits in the waistbands with the eyelet-s of the folds registering, lacing means passed through the registering eyelets to secure the folds of the plaits together, and a cover for the eyelets between the edges of the plaits.

3. A garment; having a waistband secured to the body thereof, a longitudinal series of evenly-spaced eyelets in the rear portion of the waist-band, the said eyeleted portion be ing folded to form external plaits in the waistbands with the eyelets of the folds registering, lacing means passed through the registering eyelets to secure the folds of the plaits together, a cover for the eyelets between the edges of the plaits, and means for detachably securing the cover over the said eyelets.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Pa., this 25th day of January, A. D. 1916.

THOMAS R. GAIN ES.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

